• President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday rubbished reports that BBI has torn his government apart.
• While some CSs are openly showing their allegiance to Uhuru, Ruto, others are quietly taking sides as the road to 2022 takes shape.
Image: PSCU
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday rubbished reports that BBI has torn his government apart.
Uhuru said it is unfortunate that through the process of seeking to unify Kenya, some quarters have felt left out.
Uhuru was speaking at State House Mombasa on Tuesday during the State of the Nation Address.
"I see no divisions in Jubilee party. It is unfortunate that in the process of unifying the country some people feel they have been left out. I have made it very clear that my objective is to unify Kenyans," he said.
These sentiments come amid reports that the future of the Jubilee government is on shaky ground after Cabinet Secretaries and some senior civil servants divided their loyalties between Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto.
While some CSs are openly showing their allegiance to the two, others are quietly taking sides as the road to 2022 takes shape.
At the centre of the fallout is Ruto’s displeasure with his boss's support for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) and the hand of ODM leader Raila Odinga in government.
In the wake of the political storm, kicked off by the BBI task force report, CSsabinet Secretaries have taken the cue and have since been speaking at cross-purposes as they push the agenda of the wing that nominated them to government.
As a result, there are fears that Kenyatta's ambitious Big Four agenda and the fight against corruption could be greatly affected.
Of Uhuru’s current 20 CSs, at least nine have taken opposite sides as far as the BBI report is concerned.
Powerful Interior CS Fred Matiang’ i, Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, ICT's Joe Mucheru, Public Service's Margaret Kobia, Transport CS James Macharia and his Industrialization counterpart Peter Munya are leading campaigns for BBI hearings.
Those supporting the DP’s line of thought are Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri, Energy CS Charles Keter, Lands CS Farida Karoney and Water CS Simon Chelugui.
But Uhuru said as opposed to what has been reported, he is not against any single person but stands for the 47 million Kenyans to move to the next step.
He said all leaders should instead strive to make the lives of Kenyans better.
"I will be coming to you with further actions,' he said.
He maintained a time has come for all the political class to give themselves a different political template that will bring an end to the never-ending squabbles.
Uhuru dismissed claims that the BBI is seeking to create new positions.
"The BBI is not about the creation of new positions for a few individuals. It is about how to have better governance," he said.
The head of state said Kenya must be united and the BBI brings a new consensus through an inclusive process that will end the winner take it all politics.
Under BBI no voice will be wrong and all must be heard. We want to end the cycle of election crisis to win the battle on economic prosperity," he said.